Activities of Secretary-General in Latvia, 14-15 November

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accompanied by Madam Ban Soon‑taek, arrived in Riga on Thursday afternoon, having left New York on Wednesday evening and changed planes in Frankfurt.   Riga was the first stop on a trip that would take him to all three Baltic States — Latvia, and then Estonia and Lithuania.

The Secretary-General first met with Latvian President Andris Bērziņš at his official residence and then spoke to reporters.  He then laid a wreath at Latvia’s Freedom Monument before meeting with the Speaker of Parliament, Solvita Āboltiņa, at the Parliament building.  That evening, the Secretary-General attended an official dinner at the President’s residence — Blackheads’ House.

On the morning of Friday, 15 November, the Secretary-General joined Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis at a park on the outskirts of Riga to plant an apple tree.  They then held talks.  The Secretary-General then attended the "Latvia-95" conference to mark the ninety-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Latvia.  (See Press Release SG/SM/15469.)

Later, the Secretary-General met with Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs before leaving Riga for Estonia, where he arrived that same afternoon.